Article holding apparatus

ABSTRACT

A jig for supporting a seat frame selectively in an upright position and in a horizontal position to facilitate mounting of backrest, cushion and covering on the seat frame. The jig has four spaced assembly stations each having an upright post pivotally carrying a support. Rotatably mounted on the support is a seat frame holder releasably attachable to a portion of the seat frame. A latch holds the support in an upright position. On release of the latch, the support can be pivoted into engagement with a stop to locate the seat in a generally horizontal position.

United States Patent Reuben J. Krein Forest City, Iowa 780,707

Dec. 3, 1968 May 25, 1971 Stitchcraft Corporation Forest City, Iowa Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee ARTICLE HOLDING APPARATUS 13 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[1.8. CI 269/81 B251) 5/14 Field oiSearch 269/55, 56,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1917 Houghton 269/55 1,580,627 1926 Peterson 1,921,489 1933 Stein Primary Examiner-Andrew R. Juhasz Assistant Examiner-Donald D. Evenson Att0rneyBurd, Braddock & Bartz Patented May 25, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 5'

INVIL'N'IUR REUBEN J. KREIN ATTORNEYS ARTICLE HOLDING APPARATUS SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention broadly relates to an article holding apparatus having a pivotally mounted support operable to selectively hold the article in a number of positions. The article holding apparatus is specifically a seat frame jig having a support movable mounted on a frame for selective movement to an upright position and to a generally horizontal position. Latch means hold the support in an upright position. On release of the latch means the support is moved into engagement with a stop to retain the support in a horizontal position. A holder mounted on the support is attachable to the article whereby the article is selectively held in an upright position or a generally horizontal position. The holder has fastening means to releasably attach a seat frame to the holder so that the seat frame can be removed from the holder after the seat covering has been secured to the seat frame.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the article holding apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged foreshortened sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the jig apparatus partly sectioned in the horizontal position; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the jig apparatus of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1, an article holding apparatus indicated generally at 10 for holding work articles, as seat frames, chair frames and the like, at separate work stations about a centrally located storing means. Apparatus 10 is hereinafter described as a jig apparatus for holding a seat frame during the assembly of a covering on a seat frame carrying seat and back cushions. The complete seat is a bucket seat for a vehicle, as a truck, automobile, motor home, boat and the like. The use of article holding apparatus 10 is not limited to vehicle seat frames and chair frames as other types of work articles can be held by the apparatus during an assembly operation.

Apparatus 10 has a frame, indicated generally at 11, comprising elongated normally disposed base members 12, 13, I4 and 16 extended outwardly from an upright center post 17. As shown in FIG. 2, all of the base members and center post are supported on a surface 18 of a floor or other support.

Each of the outer ends of the base members 12, 13, 14 and 16 are secured to article jigs indicated generally at 19, 20, 21 and 22. The jigs face one side of four-sided square tables 23 and 24 secured to the upright post 17. As shown in FIG. 2, table 23 is supported on laterally directed beams 23A secured to the post 17. Table 24, smaller than and located above table 23, is supported on beams 24A secured to and extended laterally from the post 17. The tables 23 and 24 are used to store tools, clips and other fasteners used to attach the cover of the seat to the chair frame. Tables 23 and 24 located centrally of the jigs 19, 20, 21 and 22 are within convenient reach of the workers completing the seats.

The article jigs 19 to 22 are identical in structure and function. They are located at separate work stations around the ta bles 23 and 24. The following description is limited to article jig 19 shown in FIGS. 2 to 6.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, article jig 19 comprises an upright post 26 secured to the outer end of base member 12. Post 26 has a flat top 27 engageable with a cylindrical support 28. A transverse horizontal hinge 29 pivotally mounts a lower portion of the support 28 to an upper edge of the post 26 for pivotal movement about a transverse horizontal axis. The hinge 29 has a base plate 31 secured to the bottom of support 28 and an upright side plate 32 secured to a side of the support 28. Support 28 is a cylindrical member held in the upright position in vertical alignment with post 26 by a releasable latch indicated generally at 33.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, latch 33 comprises a downwardly and outwardly directed lever 34 having an upper head 35. Head 35 has a forwardly directed lip 36 normally located over a portion of the flat top 27. Starting from the outer end of lip 36 the head 35 has an upwardly and outwardly convex curved edge 37. The intermediate portion of lever 34 is bifurcated and has a transverse hole receiving a transverse pivot bolt 38 mounted on a pair of spaced upright ribs 39 and 41 secured to the outside of post 26. The head 35 is biased in a forward direction by a coil torsion spring 42, shown in FIG. 4, surrounding the midportion of pivot bolt 38. One end of spring 42 engages a portion of the lever and the other end bears against the post to urge the head 36 in a forward lock position shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. When the support 28 is in an upright position, the lip 36 is adjacent the top of a pad 43 mounted on an outer portion of plate 31 locking the support 28 in the upright position. The spring 42 yieldably holds the lever 34 in the locked position.

Support 28 is released by moving the lower end of lever 34 in the direction of the arrow 44 to release the head 35 from the pad 43. With the latch 33 released, the support 28 can be pivoted in the forward direction as shown in FIG. 5. When the support 28 is moved back to its upright position the outer portion of the plate 31 will ride on the curved edge 37 automatically moving the lever 34. Once the support 28 is in an upright position lever 34 will snap back to the lock position under the biasing action of spring 42.

A seat holder indicated generally at 46 is mounted on the sleeve 28 in a manner to permit movement of the chair or seat frame 47 or other work article relative to the support 28. The seat frame 47 has a transverse front cross bar 48 and a transverse rear cross bar 49 releasably connected to the holder so that after the complete seat has been fabricated it can be readily removed from the holder. I-Iolder 46 has an upright shaft 51 extended into the support 28 and a plate 52 secured to the outer end of shaft 51. As shown in FIG. 5, a pair of spaced bearings 53 and 54 rotatably mount the shaft 51 in support 28. Retaining structure, as cover 56, secured to the outer end of support 28 holds the shaft 51 in assembled relation with the support 28 so that the shaft rotates relative to the axis of the support 28.

Plate 52 has at its forward end a reverse bent lip 57 forming a pocket for the front cross bar 48. A similar pocket is formed at the rear end of plate 52 with an offset bracket 58 secured to the top of plate 52. The seat frame is held in assembled relation with the holder 56 by a releasable lock bolt 59 threaded through a nut 61 secured to the rear portion of plate 52. The forward end of the lock bolt 59 extends through plate 52 and engages the rear cross bar 49 to clamp the cross bar 49 in engagement with bracket 58. The front cross bar 48 is held in the pocket formed by the lip 57. A transverse handle 62 secured to the outer end of the bolt 59 is used to manually tighten and release the bolt 59.

Located on the forward side of the post 26 opposite the latch 33 is a stop indicated generally at 63 for holding the support 28 in a generally horizontal position, shown in FIG. 5. Stop 63 comprises an outwardly directed knee member 64 secured by welds or the like to the side of the post 26. Mounted on the top of knee 64 is an outwardly directed plate 66 having an upper stop surface for the support 28.

In use, the support 28 is initially locked in its upright position. The seat frame 47 is mounted on holder 46 by placing the front cross bar 48 in a pocket under lip 57 and the rear cross bar 49 in the pocket under the bracket 58. The seat frame is then moved in a forward direction to locate the forward portions of the cross bars against transverse portions of the lip 57 and bracket 58. The seat is held in this position by tightening the bolt 59. The cushion, backrest and covering are then secured to the seat frame. The seat cushion and backrest may be attached to the seat frame in a prior operation so that only the seat covering is placed over the frame, cushion and backrest.

With the seat in the upright position, it can be rotated about the axis of shaft 5R so that the seat frame can move relative to the assembler. When it is necessary to attach the cover to the bottom portions of the seat frame latch 33 is released by moving the lever 341 in the direction of the arrow 4% to remove the head 35 from the pad 43. The seat frame 47 along with the support 28 can be pivoted about the axis of hinge 29 until support 28 engages the stop 63. The stop 63 holds the support 28 and seat frame in a generally horizontal position. The seat frame 47 can be rotated around the axis of the shaft 51 so that all sides of the bottom of the seat can be located in an upward direction where they are readily accessible to fastening tools.

When the assembly of the cushions and covering on the chair frame has been completed, a seat is pivoted back up to the upright position, shown in FIG. 4. As the support 28 is pivoted upwardly a portion of the plate 31 will ride on the arcuate curved edge 37 of the latch forcing the head of the latch in an outward direction until the lip 36 moves over the pad 43. In this position, latch 33 locks the support 28 in the upright position. The completed chair is then removed from the holder 46 by releasing the lock bolt 59 and pulling the chair a short distance in an outward direction. The jig 19 is now ready to receive a second seat frame. The invention is defined in the following claims.

The embodiments of an invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

I claim:

1. An article holding apparatus comprising: a frame, an upright post secured to the frame, a support, transverse horizontal pivot means movably connecting the support on the post for selective movement to a first generally upright position on top of the post and to a second generally horizontal position, releasable latch means mounted on said post for holding the support in the first position with the bottom of the support in engagement with the top of the post, stop means mounted on the post, said support being engageable with the stop means to retain the support in the second position, holding means for holding an article and means rotatably mounting the holding means on the support for rotation about a generally upright axis when the support is in the upright position.

2. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the latch comprises a lever pivotally mounted on the post, said lever having a head engageable with a portion of the support to hold the support in an upright position, and means biasing the head of the lever in engagement with the support.

3. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the holding means comprises a plate having portions forming pockets for receiving members of the article and clamp means for securing the article to the plate and said portions.

3. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 including table means mounted on the portion of the said frame spaced from the support.

5. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein said frame has a plurality of spaced elongated base members, each of said base members carrying an article holding apparatus.

6. The article holding apparatus of claim 5 including table means centrally located on said frame relative to each article holding apparatus.

7. The article holding apparatus of claim I wherein the stop means comprises a plate secured to the post and projected outwardly from the pivot means.

8. The article holding apparatus ofclaim 7 wherein the latch means is located on the opposite side of the post from the stop means.

9. The article holding apparatus of claim 11 wherein said top of the post has a flat member engageable with the bottom of the support.

10. The article holding apparatus of claim 9 wherein the bottom of the support is a flat member.

11. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the support is a cylindrical sleeve, said means rotatably mounting the holding means on the support comprising a shaft rotatable within the sleeve.

12. The article holding apparatus of claim ll wherein the latch means comprises a lever and pivot means mounting the lever on the post in a position spaced from the pivot means.

13. An article holding apparatus comprising: a frame, an upright post secured to the frame, said post having a top, a support, transverse horizontal pivot means movably connecting the support on the post for selective movement to a first generally upright position on top of the post and to a second generally horizontal position, releasable latch means mounted on said post for holding the support in a first position with the bottom of the support in engagement with the top of the post, stop means mounted on the post, said support being engageable with the stop means to retain the support in the second position, and means mounted on the support for holding an article. 

1. An article holding apparatus comprising: a frame, an upright post secured to the frame, a support, transverse horizontal pivot means movably connecting the support on the post for selective movement to a first generally upright position on top of the post and to a second generally horizontal position, releasable latch means mounted on said post for holding the support in the first position with the bottom of the support in engagement with the top of the post, stop means mounted on the post, said support being engageable with the stop means to retain the support in the second position, holding means for holding an article and means rotatably mounting the holding means on the support for rotation about a generally upright axis when the support is in the upright position.
 2. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the latch comprises a lever pivotally mounted on the post, said lever having a head engageable with a portion of the support to hold the support in an upright position, and means biasing the head of the lever in engagement with the support.
 3. The artiCle holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the holding means comprises a plate having portions forming pockets for receiving members of the article and clamp means for securing the article to the plate and said portions.
 4. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 including table means mounted on the portion of the said frame spaced from the support.
 5. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein said frame has a plurality of spaced elongated base members, each of said base members carrying an article holding apparatus.
 6. The article holding apparatus of claim 5 including table means centrally located on said frame relative to each article holding apparatus.
 7. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the stop means comprises a plate secured to the post and projected outwardly from the pivot means.
 8. The article holding apparatus of claim 7 wherein the latch means is located on the opposite side of the post from the stop means.
 9. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein said top of the post has a flat member engageable with the bottom of the support.
 10. The article holding apparatus of claim 9 wherein the bottom of the support is a flat member.
 11. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the support is a cylindrical sleeve, said means rotatably mounting the holding means on the support comprising a shaft rotatable within the sleeve.
 12. The article holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the latch means comprises a lever and pivot means mounting the lever on the post in a position spaced from the pivot means.
 13. An article holding apparatus comprising: a frame, an upright post secured to the frame, said post having a top, a support, transverse horizontal pivot means movably connecting the support on the post for selective movement to a first generally upright position on top of the post and to a second generally horizontal position, releasable latch means mounted on said post for holding the support in a first position with the bottom of the support in engagement with the top of the post, stop means mounted on the post, said support being engageable with the stop means to retain the support in the second position, and means mounted on the support for holding an article. 